[thelist] What tools should I use?

[VOLKAN ÖZÇELİK]

Here follows my *humble* opinions:

> I'm pretty new to web development (supporting one website for about a
> year), and would like to know what direction I should take for becoming
> a full-fledged web developer. Specifically, I would like to know what
> are the arguments for using open-source tools (Apache, PHP, MySQL,Linux)
> over, say, Microsoft environment (IIS,ASP,.NET, SQL server). Are there
> any good articles on the pros and cons of one kind of environment over
> another?

As per the client tear:
PHP, ASP, ASP.net, JSP can do more or less what each other can do.
using an open-source application

1. is cheap 
2. is generally robust and handle most of the time your web
application programming needs.

However when the project begins to scale up, you may be in need of ,
say a more powerful db (MySQL has paid versions -afaik- as well but
they may not be adequate)
so you may prefer , overkill (oracle) or Sybase to MySQL for instance,
or a more powerful web server software/hardware.

imho, PHP and ASP may be thought as equivalent technologies. Plus, PHP
is becoming more object oriented day by day, therefore the current
versions of PHP beats classic ASP.

Again imho PHP side is a bit dark and full of mysteries :).

If you want to walk on the M$ side, ASP.Net (which is the rival of
Java's J2EE framework) is the way to go. Usage classic ASP will fade
out sooner or later.

JSP and J2EE is yet another story, they are generally preferred for
large organizations and in large projects. But it doesn't mean that a
medium-scale web app cannot be done with them.

> 
> Also, it seems there are some good arguments for Flash over Java, but
> I'd be interested to have that confirmed from some of the veterans out
> there.
> 

Yes you're right. Client side usage of java (i.e. applets) is not a
favorable option.

One reason is they are harder to program & maintain. You can -even-
create excellent object oriented, database-driven applications using
flash if you are creative-enough and good at actionscript. Mastering
actionscript is (imho) easier than mastering java.

The second reason is that to run java applets you need JRE which may
not exists in the client's browser or it may have an incompatible
version. The same is true for flash as well, but -most of your
audience will have flash plugin installed whereas only techy-minded
geeks in that audience have installed JRE in their machines (or they
may one of those java-based game fans).

The most powerful feature of Java is not on the client side: its on
the server-side.
To list some: Java2 Enterprise Edition, Servlets, Java Server Pages,
Java Server Faces, Enterprise Java Beans, Tag Libraries ... are the
technologies most Enterprise users prefer.

However they may overkill for a small to medium sized business project.
For java, java.sun.com is always a good point to start.

HTH,
Volkan.